[News] Heritage Without Barriers: Reflections on the MuseIT Pilot in Rome

On May 14, 2025, the National Central Library of Rome became the setting for our first pilot event, Heritage Without Barriers. This full-day gathering marked a major step in our journey to make culture accessible for all, through co-creation, experimentation, and dialogue.

The event brought together professionals, policymakers, researchers, and cultural practitioners from across Italy and Europe. In total 271 participants attended the event comprising 82 on-location, in person, 164 joining online, as well as 25 members of staff and MuseIT project members. We were especially honored to welcome individuals from our key target groups: cultural organisations, artists, creators, researchers and representatives from disability advocacy groups. Their insights, lived experiences, and openness to collaboration grounded the day’s discussions in what truly matters, building tools and practices that reflect real needs.

From Dialogue to Demonstration

The day started with welcome speeches from Paola Passarelli, General Director for Libraries and Copyright at the Italian Ministry of Culture; Stefano Campagnolo, Director of the National Central Library of Rome; and Giuliano Genetasio, Director of The Central Institute for the Union Catalogue of Italian Libraries and Bibliographic Information (ICCU).

Next, Nasrine Olson from the University of Borås introduced the MuseIT project, sharing its main challenges and key results. A plenary session followed, featuring inspiring case studies on accessible cultural practices. These were presented by Daniela Bottegoni and Alessia Varricchio from the Omero National Tactile Museum, and Lorenzo Barello and Claretta Caroppo from the Teatro Stabile di Torino. These examples demonstrated that inclusive design is no longer just an abstract concept; it is already being put into practice with creativity and care in cultural organisations.

A roundtable discussion followed, bringing together Cristina Da Milano (European Centre for Cultural Organisation and Management), Maddalena Battaggia and Lucia Sardo (Italian Library Association’s Inclusion Study Group), Gabriella Cetorelli (UNESCO Office – Italian Ministry of Culture), and Dino Angelaccio (National Observatory on the Condition of People with Disabilities). Moderated by Corinne Szteinsznaider of the Michael Culture Association, the conversation explored systemic challenges and the urgent need for cultural institutions to reimagine access not as an afterthought, but as a core design principle.

The recording of the morning session (Italian) is accessible here

Technology in Practice

In the afternoon, the library transformed into a live testing ground for MuseIT’s emerging technologies. Participants engaged with five interactive workstations, each offering a different approach to multisensory and inclusive experiences.

• The WebData station invited users to explore a digital collection of cultural artefacts, where artworks were transformed into alternative formats: text, sound, and haptic feedback. The platform even tracked users’ emotional responses to generate personalized music, underscoring the emotional dimension of cultural engagement.

• HaptiVerse introduced a system for design and remote communication of tactile language through structured haptic patterns delivered to the body, offering a communication system especially relevant for individuals living with  deafblindness or in contexts where verbal or visual cues are limited.

• In the Sonification and Haptification station, participants experienced artworks being converted to musical tones and haptic sensations. By translating the concepts, colors, and contours of a painting, participants were asked to judge if they could learn to recognize art in this manner.

• The Virtual Museum combined high-definition VR visuals with biometric sensing. As participants moved through the digital space, their emotional reactions, captured via EEG and other sensors, provided rich insights into how people engage with cultural content in virtual environments.

• Finally, the Music Generation workstation turned internal states into sound. Through sensors tracking facial expression, heartbeat, or brainwaves, participants generated music, sometimes feeling it, sometimes hearing it, sometimes both.It clearly illustrated the potential of technology to expand the boundaries of creative expression, particularly for individuals unable to engage with conventional instruments.

• Finally, partners presented a proof of concept for MuseIT's new multimodal Knowledge Base, developed through the EU project MuseIT. Designed to support research, art, and tech at the intersection of disability and cultural access, it will expand to include articles, case studies, guides, and films, serving artists, researchers, carers, institutions, and disabled individuals.

In parallel with the testing phase of the technologies, a portion of the public, on a rotating basis, took part in a workshop on the topic of accessibility to cultural heritage. Participants were able to share their positive and negative experiences and express their viewpoints in a non-judgmental and attentive listening environment. 

Looking Back and Ahead

The Rome pilot enabled us to test and validate a collection of our technical developments with actual users on a broader scale-moving beyond earlier, smaller-scale testing with specific sub-groups. Bringing together people with lived experience, representatives of cultural institutions, artists, and members of the general public in a shared setting allowed us to gather diverse feedback on the same technologies. This helped us establish new contacts, identify gaps, and gain a clearer understanding of what needs to be improved or presented differently. The pilot also provided valuable insights into how the various components of the project interrelate, giving partners a tangible sense of how these elements will eventually come together in practice. While technical validation was a key goal, the pilot also highlighted broader values, such as the importance of inclusive participation and the critical need for training to support confident, meaningful use of the tools. These outcomes have contributed directly to shaping our roadmap for the next phase of development.

As Nasrine Olson, project coordinator from the University of Borås, shared:

“Access to cultural heritage is a fundamental right, recognised across legal and policy frameworks. Through this pilot, we were able to engage a wide range of users in a shared environment, gaining valuable insights that now inform both the technical development and strategic direction of the project.”

With the feedback gathered in Rome, we now turn toward our next pilot in Sweden, which will explore musical co-creation tools. The journey toward inclusive culture continues, with new voices, new ideas, and a renewed commitment to accessibility through innovation. Our second pilot, focusing on music co-creation, will take place on June 17 as part of the 2nd ACM Europe Summer School on Accessible and Inclusive Technologies!